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How to Remove a Matplotlib Colorbar or Hide Specific Tick Labels

Use the Colorbar object to remove a whole colorbar, hide selected labels, or adjust ordinary axis ticks without changing more than intended.
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To remove a Matplotlib colorbar, keep the Colorbar object returned by fig.colorbar() or plt.colorbar(), then call cbar.remove(). To hide only selected colorbar labels, set the tick positions and corresponding labels together, using an empty string where you want a tick without text. For ordinary plot axes, use tick_params to hide labels while preserving ticks, or set a shorter list of tick positions to remove unwanted ticks as well.

Remove the entire colorbar

A Matplotlib colorbar is drawn in its own axes and maps values from a scalar mappable—such as an image—to colors. Save the object returned when you create it; that is the object to remove later.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
image = ax.imshow(data)
cbar = fig.colorbar(image, ax=ax)

# Later, remove the colorbar:
cbar.remove()

The same approach applies when creating a colorbar with plt.colorbar(): retain its return value and call remove() on it. The Matplotlib 3.10.0 colorbar API documents Colorbar.remove(); when the colorbar was created with use_gridspec=True, removal restores the previous gridspec.

Hide selected colorbar labels but keep their ticks

Use Colorbar.set_ticks() to specify tick positions and labels as a pair. Put an empty string at a position whose tick should remain visible without a label:

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cbar.set_ticks([0, 1, 2, 3], labels=["0", "", "2", "3"])

Each label corresponds to the tick at the same index. This keeps the tick at 1 while hiding its text. The Matplotlib colorbar API discourages setting labels alone with set_ticklabels() in most cases, because labels can become mismatched if tick locations change. If you do use set_ticklabels(), fix the tick positions first.

Hide ordinary axis labels without removing ticks

For a plot’s x- or y-axis, tick_params() can hide labels independently of tick locations and marks:

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# Keep x tick marks and locations, but hide the bottom labels
ax.tick_params(axis="x", labelbottom=False)

# Keep y tick marks and locations, but hide the left labels
ax.tick_params(axis="y", labelleft=False)

These options target the bottom and left sides. For a top or right axis, use labeltop=False or labelright=False, respectively. Tick marks can be controlled separately with options such as bottom=False or left=False. Properties not specified remain unchanged unless reset=True is used. See the Axes.tick_params reference.

Remove specific ordinary-axis ticks and their labels

If you want to retain only certain x-axis tick locations, provide just those positions and matching labels:

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ax.set_xticks([0, 2, 5], labels=["start", "middle", "end"])

Use ax.set_yticks() in the same way for the y-axis. Passing [] removes all ticks on that axis; for example, ax.set_xticks([]) removes every x tick and label. Setting explicit positions replaces the axis locator with a fixed locator, and Matplotlib may expand view limits so all supplied ticks are visible. If that is not wanted, set the desired limits after setting the ticks. The behavior is described in the Axes.set_xticks reference.

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Choose the method that matches what should disappear

What you want to change Use Effect
The whole colorbar cbar.remove() Removes the colorbar from the figure.
Some colorbar text only cbar.set_ticks(positions, labels=labels) Retains chosen tick locations, including any with an empty label.
Axis labels only ax.tick_params(..., labelbottom=False) or labelleft=False Hides labels while keeping tick locations and marks.
Some ordinary-axis ticks and labels ax.set_xticks() or ax.set_yticks() Retains only the specified locations and their corresponding labels.

The colorbar methods apply to a Colorbar; the axis methods apply to an Axes. For plots whose tick positions are generated dynamically, avoid fixing a list of positions unless you intend to replace that behavior. If an API behaves differently in your installation, consult documentation for the Matplotlib version you use; the colorbar guidance here is from 3.10.0, while the stable axes references identify a 3.11.2 documentation build.

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